


Favorite Things

by mangneov



Series: No Straight Roads Ficlets [1]
Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: An appreciation of Music and Men, Jazz - Freeform, M/M, No Dialogue, Pining, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangneov/pseuds/mangneov
Summary: The first time J sits in on a performance of Bernadotte's, it's actually a duet.
Relationships: Neon J. (No Straight Roads)/The Mystery Mural Guy
Series: No Straight Roads Ficlets [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150424
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Favorite Things

The first time J sits in on a performance of Bernadotte's, it's actually a duet.

Dima Zoloto, dressed down to his waistcoat and evening slacks, plays piano. Bernadotte opts for the drums in this particular instance. It's not his primary instrument; no, the man is most in his element with his lips around brass. 

He is multi-talented, however.

J is in awe of how comfortable he looks. How energetic and exact and _perfect_ he looks. 

J's, at the very least, _heard_ him play. His younger driver, Ram, has the most ridiculous habit of tuning the station to match the district they're in. J had snapped at him for it initially. He wasn't shy about expressing his interest in his colleagues' repertoire, and it was incredibly jarring to jump from thumping house to snappy jazz. 

Ram was obedient, but music, just like everyone else in Vinyl City, was where he got stubborn. So J had resigned himself to letting Ram's habits slide. 

This and his initial background checks on each of his coworkers is what grants him the prior knowledge that Bernadotte plays the saxophone, the drums, and even the piano—though rather poorly. Not even just when stacked against the genius that is Dima Zoloto on the keyboard. The man just can't seem to get his notes to land.

But here, during the after hours in the Blue Crab, right off the tail end of a droning but electronically charged performance, Bernadotte is _precise_. He's not the star of this performance, never stood a chance with Dima anywhere near the piano, but it's impossible for J to do anything but hyper-focus on his precision and his perfection and the way his face maintains complete neutrality throughout it. His playing never remains the same for more than four bars. He's treating the instrument more like a melodious lead than the rigid backbone of the arrangement. J has never heard anything like it, not _ever_.

J is a man of technology. Literally. His body's been blown to pieces and auto tuned back from hell. But in that moment, all he wants to do is grab Bernadotte by the collar (and maybe even Dima while he's at it) and beg him to never use a computer in performance ever again. 

It could be the energy of the music that does it.

It could be the discovery of something new and unique and begging to be preserved.

It could be the return to musicality that is not presented with a bow of modern day preferences. 

But most likely, it has nothing to do with the music. 

J's lost his taste for jazz, after all.

His delight for broad shoulders and strong hands, and determination, though obscured, and the simple humanity of a man passionate about his work and his art, that which he dishes out with his own actions and his own wonderful, daring mind, remains.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the frankly phenomenal bunkasai medley from Kids on the Slope. It's worth a listen for those drums alone. Imagine that the oldies are playing something similar here.
> 
> I haven't been able to get myself to write lately. Maybe indulgent short fics are the key to recovery? One can only hope.
> 
> As always, Bernadotte's name comes from the user Urza


End file.
